An Evening of Relaxation
by Jarris Shepard
Summary: Duke pampers his favorite gal at the end of a long day. Short, sweet and fluffy. Remember, I grew up on the Joe cartoon in the 80s and on that cartoon Duke and Scarlett had the relationshippy connection, not Scarlett and Snake Eyes. In fact, I can't really enjoy the comics where Snakes is paired with Scarlett because the memory of Duke with Scarlett is so deeply ingrained.


Title: Relaxation  
Author: Phax_Halfelven  
Disclaimer: Don't sue, I admit I don't own and make no profit off of characters created by Sunbow or Marvel or Devil's Due. I just use them for my own amusement and possibly theirs as well. Thanks.

Two hands, lean with muscle, callused with work. One cupped around the flame of the match in the other. Those hands touched the flame to the last candle on the back shelf of the huge Jacuzzi Tub. The jets would remain dormant tonight, but he'd make the best of his time with his wife. Everything was ready, now all he needed was his wife. She shouldn't be too much longer now. He'd checked with her before she left base and he was satisfied that she'd get home before the water cooled too much.

He looked around him at the roomy bathroom. This was just one of the rooms they shared. The double vanity with marble counter around the sinks. His on the left, mostly bare, very organized for the few items he kept there. Her side over-flowing with female accessories but just as organized as his. They were in the military, after all. They hadn't gotten much use of the Jacuzzi, the first six months they'd been married they'd been stationed somewhere else and once the team had re-formed they'd been very busy. Somewhere in the last year he'd hit a bull's-eye.

'No, exactly thirty weeks ago I hit that target, and in a few short weeks we'll have a baby in the house and even less time to have fun in this tub.' He smiled to himself, "not a bad trade off though." He let the grin reign this time while his deep tone faded from the empty room.

He left the room pulling the door closed behind him and walked through the bedroom and down the hall to the stairs. He reached the sunken living room and flipped on the stereo. Smooth jazz filled the quiet room. He sat in anticipation of his wife's arrival watching out the front windows for the headlights of their new SUV. He leaned his head back after a few seconds and missed the very lights he was waiting for, but the door shutting and the keys in the door brought him to his feet. He crossed the room and pulled the door open for her. Her arms were full of groceries and her files from work. He pulled the groceries from her arms. "I told you we'd do this tomorrow, Shana." He said in a soft voice, meeting her exhausted blue eyes.

"I know, but there were some things that I needed tonight for dinner." Her voice betrayed her fatigue more than her eyes had. He smiled at her hoping to lift her spirits, but she was carrying around roughly twenty extra pounds of weight and he knew that she'd had a hard day. The only plus to that was that it was her last until after the baby was born.

"Dinner is taken care of, Red, and before we eat, I've got a treat for you." She must've read his voice wrong because she answered him with an excuse.

"Conrad, I'm too tired for anything like that tonight."

"I know, babe, go toss your stuff in the office while I put this up. I'll come get you when I'm done." He kissed her lips softly.

"Okay, don't take too long I want to get out of this uniform and into something comfortable." She sighed gustily and her free hand trailed down his chest before going to the small of her back to try and alleviate some of the pressure that advanced pregnancy put there.

"Don't worry I'll be quick. Go on and lose the uniform if you want, but the bathroom is off limits 'til I get there." He gave her a hint in the face of her obvious need for relief.

"Conrad, what are you up to?" The curiosity had chased away her fatigue.

"You'll see. Go get rid of that stuff and I'll meet you in the bedroom." Conrad was already on his way across the room to the door into the kitchen. Shana took a moment to admire his back under the tight PT shirt he wore and his muscular legs below the shorts that matched it. She shivered and grinned on her way up to their office. She took a little time to see that the files went neatly into the stack of things she'd be working on while she was on leave. Then she went to their bedroom and over to the king size bed they shared.

Her favorite terry robe was laid out on the end so she removed her uniform and hung it in her side of the closet. The robe was soft and warm around her aching body. She was debating taking a peak into the bathroom when two strong arms wrapped her from behind. One hand caressed her belly lightly, the other traveled up to brush her hair away from her neck. Then Conrad's lips replaced the hand. "Ready for your surprise?" She nodded, already feeling her tension unwinding.

Conrad led her into the bathroom. She gasped at the array of candles and the bubble filled tub. Conrad let go of her momentarily and tested the water. It was starting to chill, so he turned on the hot and let it fill a little more while he distracted his wife. "I know you've been having a hard time with your back, so I asked Allie what Flint did to help her. She suggested this. Hope you like it."

The only thing she could say was, "I love you, Hauser."

"I love you too, Mrs. Hauser. Now, let's get you relaxing." He went to his knees in front of her. "And you, little Hauser, give Mom a break huh?" Their child responded with a soft kick to Conrad's voice.

"You're making it worse, Dad. The baby responds to your voice by doing Jujitsu in there." She ran her fingers through his short blond hair as his hands pushed the robe aside and his strong hands caressed her belly in smooth circular strokes. The kicking eased away.

"That's it, kiddo, go to sleep." Shana grinned at his orders. He raised up and pulled off the shirt and his shorts, revealing that he wore nothing under them. Then Shana took pleasure watching the play of muscle in his body as he turned and checked the water again before turning off the tap. He came back around to face her and helped her out of the robe. "In you go, gorgeous." He held her hand for balance as she climbed the side, and followed her into the water. The temperature was just perfect. Her muscle aches started to fade, except for the ones in her lower back.

"As much as I'm enjoying being pregnant, I can't wait until this is over. My back is like one large ache." Shana was trying to get comfortable against him.

"Get up on your knees and lean over the side, babe." She did as he asked with a look of puzzlement. "Trust me, babe." Then his hands were warm on her lower back. The strokes from before returned but were more firm and the ache faded deliciously under his touch.

"Oh, Conrad, thank you, that feels so much better." Her face rested on her arms while he massaged her back.

"You're welcome, Red." His lips were soft against her spine as he laid a kiss there. "Okay, we'll finish this massage after dinner. Come here." He pulled her back and down in to the water against his chest where he reclined against the sloped back of the tub. Shana relaxed and let him do what he willed. She trusted him with her life, after all.

Conrad's hands left her for a bit and returned with her soap squishy. He took his time scrubbing her down and she just laid passive against him while he washed her. After a time her tension was a distant memory and she turned in his arms to lock her lips with his. Conrad groaned softly when her tongue caressed the roof of his mouth. "Thank you, Conrad."

"My pleasure, Shana. Anything else you want right now?" He asked with his lips against her neck.

"I'd like to make out with my husband, hope you don't mind."

"Not at all, let me just go get him." He made as if to leave and she grabbed his head pulling his lips to hers before he could free himself from her. Shana's lips were soft against his, but her tongue was forceful pulling a sound from deep in his body. He pulled away to lavish her throat with kisses and nibbles. She moaned his name and he grinned against her before licking his way along her collarbone. "I love when you make that sound, Shana."

Conrad's voice vibrating against her chest made Shana shiver, and she turned fully in his lap to face him. "Well, only you can pull that out of me so I don't think I'm all that surprised, Action Man."

"Figures," his face darkened at her shivering form above him, "Shana, either get back down here in the warm water or let's get out and find some clothes."

"I got a better idea, let's grab a shower. I want to wash my hair and it's a nightmare to do it in the tub." Shana stood and trailed her fingers down his jaw.

"You're the boss tonight, beautiful."

"Good." She grinned and left him in the water to sashay herself across the bathroom to their shower. Her waist length red tresses swayed behind her and some stuck fast to her wet body. Conrad felt his chest tighten. He'd always loved her hair. He'd prayed and begged for her to leave it long when she'd contemplated cutting it all off a month ago. She'd finally given in as long as she could cut off a little. During the years they'd been away from the team her hair had grown long enough to reach the backs of her knees. He'd agreed to a trim and she'd come home with it this length. The way it had been when they were with the team the first time around.

She shot him a grin before entering the shower. He realized that the show had been on purpose. She knew how he reacted to the sway of her hips and the way her hair brushed her as she walked and was using that to drive him crazy. Even with the waddle that the baby weight added it was sexy as all hell. He pulled the stopper from the drain and hurried to the shower. "Give a girl a hand would you, Con." Her voice was as smooth as velvet and he about melted right there on the tiles. She already had the water flowing so he turned her around to face him and leaned her into the spray to rinse the bubbles out and wet the top of her head.

He turned her back and massaged her scalp, working the shampoo she liked into a lather. He let her rinse herself and applied the conditioner. Again he let her rinse and caressed her soft skin all the while. She finished rinsing and her arms went around his neck pressing their bodies together. "Hey, I'm not the one squashing you. Kick your mother." He laughed when the tiny movements were repeated against him. Usually he felt that movement a little lower, but the last appointment with Doc the sonogram had shown the baby head down and ready to go. Shana slapped him playfully.

"He is kicking me, Conrad."

"She, Darling, she." He corrected her as always.

"We'll see soon enough. If I'm right you owe me a week's worth of night feedings." Shana giggled at him.

"Oh funny, and how do you propose I feed her when all the food will be here." He reached up to cup her breasts and Shana sighed long and low. A few months ago he had been forbidden to even look at them they were so sore, now even though they were sensitive they didn't hurt in the least.

"That's what the pump is for." Came her breathless reply as his fingers did wonderful things for her. He pulled his hands away, but she stopped him. "You stop now and you can sleep on the couch, Pal." He gave a deep chuckle and returned his hands where she wanted them.

"Your wish is my command." He lowered his mouth to replace one hand and felt her knees buckle. He caught her gently and pulled away this time ignoring her protest. "Come on, everybody out of the pool. I don't want you falling on this tile." Tears shimmered in Shana's eyes. "What? Shana?"

"I asked you not to stop." She turned away.

'Damn, not a mood swing now.' He pleaded with the fates. "Babe, I am not stopping unless you tell me to, but if you fall...I don't want anything hurting you or the baby this late in the game." His voice was soft and he pulled her back to him letting her bury her face against his chest. "Come on, let me towel you off and we can lay down and do whatever you want on the bed so no one is in danger of falling down." She nodded and let him turn off the shower. He wrapped her in a large fluffy towel while he tossed one around his waist and secured it. He then dried her off.

"I'm sorry, hon, I'm fine one moment and the next I feel like I'm going crazy." Shana sounded embarrassed.

"Not a problem, Shana. You aren't crazy, you've got a passenger playing all kinds of havoc on your hormonal system. If you can carry all that extra weight around for nine months the least I can do is make sure I'm here for your mood swings and that I do my best to make things easier on you." He pulled her in against him tight rubbing her back and caressing her forehead with his lips.

Her arms went around him and she sniffled for a few moments. "Here I go again."

"That's okay, Babe, cry if you want, but don't make fun of me if I join in. I hate when you cry."

"At least, you aren't mirroring my mood swings the way Beach did with Courtney, good lord. I'd never seen a grown man cry that much." She started giggling then. Shortly her giggles were howls of laughter that had great tears running down her face.

"That was damn funny. I wonder if Beach will ever touch her again. He was very grumpy through that whole pregnancy." Shana laughed harder still at the look of disgust on Conrad's face.

"You have no idea how bad it was. He took out his 'mood swings' on the rest of us in PT."

"I saw, and the formal protest from all of you was almost more funny than him sharing the hormones with Cover Girl." Conrad planted a kiss on her wrist and pulled her up. "We need to dry and brush out your hair, beautiful. Follow me." He pulled her over to a chair in the bathroom near a small table with the drier and her brush atop it. He sat her in the chair and started to dry her hair brushing out tangles as he went. As long as her hair was it took quite a while. A thought struck Shana while he was finishing up.

"What about dinner?"

"What about dinner, what?" Conrad was confused.

"You said you'd taken care of it, where is it?"

"In the oven staying warm." He kissed her neck from behind and let her dry hair fall loose down her back.

"And what are we having?"

"A little of this, and a little of that. I didn't know what you'd be in the mood for so I've cleaned out all the leftovers from the fridge. I've got half a sausage pizza warming, some steak and potatoes, and what was left of that casserole you made two days ago."

"Oh, that casserole sounds good." Shana licked her lips in anticipation.

"Does that mean that you're ready to eat?" Conrad wrapped her up in the robe again and led her out into the bedroom. He tossed some panties and a set of pajamas out on the bed for her.

"I'm starving, babe, and I can dress myself, if you'll go get things ready." Shana trailed her fingers down his naked back.

"No problem, let me throw on some pants." He grabbed a pair of cotton pajama pants and pulled them on. "Be right back." She nodded and watched him leave the room. Then she grabbed the pajamas that he'd chosen and put them away. Instead she pulled out a pair of Conrad's sweat pants and one of her favorite t-shirts that was really one of his, and pulled them on instead. She tossed the panties back in the drawer too, after she'd pulled on the clothes.

Conrad came back in with a tray of food. A bowl of casserole for her along with a glass of lemonade. A slice of pizza and a soda for himself. "Your dinner is served gorgeous. Hey, where'd you find that shirt? I've been looking everywhere." She giggled.

"It's been in my drawer for months, babe. I love this shirt."

"Really, well you look better in it than I ever did anyway." He set the tray on the bed between them. "Dig in." They ate in silence and he got her settled in bed relaxing while he took the dishes back down to the kitchen and got them into the dishwasher. She was reading a novel when he returned. "Ready for some more pampering?" He asked grabbing a bottle of her favorite lotion.

"There's more?" She looked up, surprised.

"Of course." He hopped on the end of the bed and pulled her feet into his lap. He squeezed a little of the lotion into his palms, and his fingers dug in slowly against the balls of her feet. She moaned gently.

"Oh that feels wonderful."

"I thought you might like this. As swollen as you're feet are, I figured they had to ache pretty bad." He continued to massage her feet and then renewed the lotion in his palm to massage her calves. He moved on from there to her hands and then rolled her as far over onto her side as she'd go before starting on her back again.

"Conrad, what in the world did I ever do to deserve you." He didn't bother to answer knowing she didn't expect him to. He kept at it until she was like putty in his hands then kissed her lips softly, pulling the book from her hands and marking her place before setting it on the nightstand.

"I'll be back, beautiful." She nodded softly, already mostly asleep. He ran into the bathroom and made sure all the candles were out. He then made his way down to lock up for the night and turn off the stereo. Finally, he climbed into bed with her, helping to make her comfortable leaning against him for support on her side. His hand went again to the swell of their child and he felt the kicking that was causing her squirming against his chest. He gave the spot a caress firm and yet gentle and the movement settled down. Shana sighed softly, "thank you, Conrad, for everything tonight." She buried her face against his bicep lightly kissing him there before drifting completely into sleep.

"Night, Red. I love you." Conrad lay there for a long time caressing his child and his wife to make sure they got a little rest before he slept as well.

Notes: I thought that these two could use a little break on the Angst end of things and decided to give them a romantic interlude, the actual idea for Duke to pamper Scarlett in the late stage of pregnancy was a picture of a very miserable seven-and-a-half month pregnant friend. She looked like she needed to be pampered and it worked for the story...Hope you liked this. Leave a review, it's a little story so you can leave just a little review if ya want. I just like to know that people like my stories. 


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